UN drugs chief sticks to punitive policy despite major failings

The Independent (UK)
Friday, March 25, 2011

International efforts to tackle the "global threat" of illicit drugs must be "rejuvenated" in accordance with a 50-year-old convention despite a series of major failings, said the head of the UN drugs and crime agency Yury Fedotov. Champions of drug-policy reform agree that trafficking is a major global problem, but some worry that a call to invigorate the convention could be interpreted as a call to reinforce punitive approaches to drug problems.